welcome marek:Perhaps you are looking for "claquer" - literally someone who is hired to applaud a performance, however bad or good it is. The meaning can easily be widened to include a group of sycophants, toadies, flatterers, etc.

I wish to create (or find) a word that delimits the vile collaboration of professional social in-groups to the abject detriment of the rest of us. You know, vile people like vile lawyers, vile doctors, and vile Indian chiefs.Those vile folk have Unions without Unions.

Hmm... maybe some variant of sycophant or claque or mutual masturbation will suffice.

but isn't the proffered definition itself shaded a bit negatively - "unconditional/unquestioning loyalty/favoritism" - unless you're a Pollyanna? loyalty may be seen as a good thing, but unconditional or unquestioning, not so much.

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